Cervical Radiculopathy - No Pain but Severe Weakness in Triceps and Lats (with video)
Hello!
I will be documenting my journey with cervical radiculopathy, as this injury is beyond frustrating and confusing. It also appears to be a forum topic that pops up every now and then, but with most of them trailing off with minimal follow up about conclusions or outcomes.
As of today, I’m a bit into the movie, so let me catch you up:
How it started:
- Was doing bar muscle up’s, when I felt a tweak in the upper back during the lock out. It didn’t bother me then, so I continued on.
- ~3 days later, glowing left shoulder pain started and radiated to the elbow and then to the ring finger. No numbness or paresthesia. Pain level 6/7 of 10.
- Pain disappeared with manual therapy and chiropractic care.
- Duration of these events: ~3 weeks.
Where I am today:
- What remains is severe weakness in left triceps (for sure) YouTube and lats (I think) YouTube.
- As you can see in the videos, the left side is "turned off.” I can’t do a tricep extension with 20 pounds, and my pull-up is completed leaning to the right.
- After 3 weeks of physical therapy, with marginal strength recovery, paresthesia started in the left shoulder to the elbow and now to the index finger (unlike the ring finger that presented pain before). No numbness or pain.
- This alarmed me to see a physiatrist.
- The physiatrist did a few strength tests, and he suspects C7 radiculopathy as my triceps weakness is “severe" and a "red flag.” I’m meeting with him to review MRIs this Thursday (6/14).
- In the meantime, I’m on Medrol.
Looking forward — Your advice please:
While my meeting to review C7 radiculopathy with MRIs is this week, what I’m struggling to understand is how my pull-up’s at the top of the movement are affected by tricep weakness. Are there other pathologies that I should ask about with the doctor?
Thanks!